Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-vfjqv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T10:40:45.723Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

A Combination Method of Charge Density Measurement in Hard Materials Using Accurate, Quantitative Electron and X-ray Diffraction: The α-Al2O3 Case

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 September 2003

Victor A. Streltsov
Affiliation:
Crystallography Centre, Department of Physics, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, 6907, Australia
Philip N.H. Nakashima
Affiliation:
Crystallography Centre, Department of Physics, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, 6907, Australia
Andrew W.S. Johnson
Affiliation:
Centre for Microscopy, University of Western Australia, Nedlands 6907, Australia
Get access

Abstract

Current X-ray diffraction techniques intended for “ideally imperfect” specimens provide structure factors only on a relative scale and ever-present multiple scattering in strong low-angle Bragg reflections is difficult to correct. Multiple scattering is implicit in the quantitative convergent beam electron diffraction (QCBED) method, which provides absolutely scaled structure factors. Conventional single crystal X-ray diffraction has proved adequate in softer materials where crystal perfection is limited. In hard materials, the highly perfect nature of the crystals is often a difficulty, due to the inadequacy of the conventional corrections for multiple scattering (extinction corrections). The present study on α-Al2O3 exploits the complementarity of synchrotron X-ray measurements for weak and medium intensities and QCBED measurement of the strong low-angle reflections. Two-dimensional near zone axis QCBED data from different crystals at various accelerating voltages, thicknesses, and orientations have been matched using Bloch-wave and multislice methods. The reproducibility of QCBED data is better than 0.5%. The low-angle strong QCBED structure factors were combined with middle and high-angle extinction-free data from synchrotron X-ray diffraction measurements. Static deformation charge density maps for α-Al2O3 have been calculated from a multipole expansion model refined using the combined QCBED and X-ray data.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2003 Microscopy Society of America

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)